Hsin Shin Ming: “57. All is void, clear, and self-illuminating, with no need to exert the mind.”

Hsin Shin Ming: “57. All is void, clear, and self-illuminating, with no need to exert the mind.”

‘All is void, clear and self-illuminating’ means that all things, or all forms are revealing the true-Self clearly by themselves. ‘With no need to exert the mind’ means that we don’t need to make an effort to realise the fact because true-Self is already showing itself before you. However, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to practise. It means that we should not try to find Emptiness in anything else and anywhere else in other than what we see and hear.

The true-Self is often referred to as a secret for the reason that it is far from easy to find. However, it is actually an open secret because the reason why we don’t see it is not that it is hiding itself but that we don’t recognise it while seeing and hearing it all the time.

Student: “Why can’t I see things as they are even though they are self-illuminating?”
Master: “Because ‘they are self-illuminating’ is blocking your sight.”